


Under Fire

by dreamsongs



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-10
Updated: 2014-02-15
Packaged: 2018-01-11 20:36:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1177634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamsongs/pseuds/dreamsongs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Restaurant AU </p><p>Rose Tyler has just taken a job as a busser at the hottest new restaurant in town, but after a bad run-in with the arrogant head chef, John Smith - aka The Food Doctor, will she be able stand the heat?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> To avoid confusion, this is a work in progress that is also being posted on my tumblr account. My tumblr account has a different username, though, so I don't want anyone thinking I'm ripping myself off...
> 
> Also, this is my first time posting on here, is this the part where I'm supposed to say I don't own any of the characters? Because I don't. I just love them. But they are owned by the BBC and their original writers.

It was a busy night at Tardis, the hottest restaurant on the scene at the moment. Rose Tyler had just started working there as a busser and dishwasher. She’d been hoping to get a job as a server, but they had wanted someone with experience in a high end restaurant, so she’d have to try to work her way up.

Her mother thought it was beneath her, as Rose had previously been a server at Henrik’s, a cafe on the other side of town, She thought Rose was doing herself a disservice by stepping down to an entry level position. But Rose knew it was worth it to put in her time at the bottom, because the servers at Tardis earned more money in one night than she had in a week at Henrik’s. And after the cafe had burned down in a gas fire, she was lucky to have found work so quickly at all, and she wouldn’t turn her nose up at this opportunity, even if it was a step back.

She showed up early every night, which made her a hit with her supervisor, Martha Jones, who was one of the two she’d interviewed with to get the job. She and the owner, Donna Noble, had been the ones to hire her However, of the two, Martha had been hesitant and only agreed because Rose had seemed to win over Donna with her personality. So Rose had set out to impress Martha from the start. Along with her punctuality, Rose had a sharp eye and a keen sense of timing, which enabled her to almost sense she was going to be needed before anyone said a word to her. Twice she had sensed one of the servers was carrying too much, or would get bumped in a crowded section of the restaurant, and Rose had appeared suddenly to make sure she didn’t drop her load, or spill anything on any of the diners. This, along with her speed in clearing and setting tables, made her a hit with the wait staff as well. The regular bartender, Jack, had come to count on her more than anyone else to make sure his station was kept well stocked and cleaned. 

In fact, the only person who didn’t seem to be overly impressed with Rose was the executive chef, John Smith. He was the most sought after chef in the city, but rather than take any of the cushy jobs that were offered to him after he left his last job, he had opted to join forces with his best friend, Donna, to start their own restaurant. She would oversee the operations while he had free reign in the kitchen. There was a good reason they called him “The Food Doctor,” or just the Doctor for short. He had a way of pairing things that didn’t seem like they should be in the same room together, let alone on the same plate, and turn them into something absolutely delicious. He spent most of his free time experimenting with ingredients and spices to come up with brand new flavors that would astound people’s palates. This was, after all, what made his food such a draw. Unexpected delights. So he was constantly feeling the pressure to top himself and keep Tardis on the map for more than just the usual time a restaurant is a “hot spot.”

This desire to constantly be the best left him with a no-nonsense attitude that made most of the support staff timid, at best, to work with him. He was known far and wide as being not only the best chef in the city, but also the rudest and most demanding. If one pea on a plate was out of place, he was in his chefs’ faces calling them out on it. He demanded perfection not only from himself, but from everyone around him. 

Which was how it came to be that his first encounter with Rose Tyler left her feeling completely terrified of him.

One of her fellow bussers had dropped his tray of dishes in the hallway leading to the kitchen. He had been attempting to clean it up quickly before he got in too much trouble, but in his haste had cut his hand on a shard of glass from one of the broken martini glasses and Rose had stepped in to help, sending him to Martha to administer first aid. 

Rose was kneeling, carefully picking up the larger pieces of glass before she could sweep up the rest, when the doors to the kitchen burst open suddenly and a string of insults preceded the man that entered the hallway.

"I don’t know why it’s so bloody difficult for you people to grasp the concept of plating. It’s not difficult. Blimey, I work with idiots." he finished in a mutter, then spotting Rose. "Oh, speaking of, what the hell have you done? Do you have any idea how much those glasses cost? Bloody hell, is it your first day or something? No, any trained monkey could manage to carry a tray of dishes from one room to the other, that’s no excuse. I’m going to talk to Donna, this is coming out of your paycheck…whoever you are.” he finished, eyeing her up and down until his gaze fell to her name tag. “Rose, is it? Rose what?”

Rose got to her feet, her face beet red, afraid to correct his assumption that it was her fault, lest he think she was lying. “Rose Tyler, chef.” she said, trying to hold her head up and look him in the eye, but one look at the fury in his eyes had her looking down again. 

"Right, then, Rose Tyler. Get this cleaned up and make sure it doesn’t happen again or I’ll make sure you get sacked. I don’t care if Donna says I can’t fire people, I’ll fire whoever the hell I feel like." he turned his head back towards the kitchen "D’you hear that? I won’t put up with incompetence in my kitchen so if you lot can’t get your act together you’re out the door. No second chances. Here." he said, reaching for the broom leaning against the wall next to them and shoving it at Rose. "Get this cleaned up before I get back from the Donna’s office. I don’t want to see you in this hallway when I come back or I swear I’ll have your job tonight."

Rose gaped at him as he stormed away, then startled as a hand grabbed her arm.

"Why didn’t you tell him it wasn’t you?" Jack asked, clearly having witnessed the whole thing.

"What? Like he’d have believed me in that mood? ‘Sides, Adam’s already on the outs with Donna after being late so much the last week or so. If he’d told Donna that Adam did it, he’d be sacked tonight for sure."

"You’re too good to him. I doubt he’d have done the same for you." Jack said, glancing over at Adam who seemed to be playing up his injury to garner sympathy from the waitresses.

"Yeah, well, that’s me all over, isn’t it? I gotta get this cleaned up before himself gets back, so I’ll talk to you later, yeah? And thanks, Jack."

"Anytime, princess," he said, with a wink.

"Oi! Don’t call me princess!" she replied, swatting him with a towel as he walked away.

"I mean it as a compliment, not an insult." he called over his shoulder.

"Yeah, sure you do." she said quietly, but with a grin.

She would spend the next two weeks with the sole intention of staying as far away from the so-called Doctor as she could, but little did she know his plans were exactly the opposite. It wasn't at all because he enjoyed looking at her, or so he tried to convince himself.


	2. Chapter 2

After her unfortunate run-in with the Doctor, and subsequent lecture from Donna, Rose found her spirits low. She’d been doing everything she could to make a good impression, but apparently taking the fall for Adam’s mistake was costing her in more than just the garnished wages for the martini glasses. 

"And the worst part is, he won’t even admit it was his fault. Never thanked me, never apologized. Just played up that damn cut on his hand to get people to do things for him, the git. Though where he’s supposed to have gotten it from if not from the glass, I dunno." Rose huffed in annoyance, ruffling the hair that had escaped her ponytail. She was sitting at the bar with Jack, nursing a ginger-ale while he counted down his register for the night. 

"He’s making up stories. Last one was a bar fight. Says he jumped in to defend some girl who was being harassed." Jack said, rolling his eyes.

Rose groaned. “Some hero he is, letting me take the blame for his mistake. God!” she pounded her fist on the bar. “I’d like to wring his neck.”

"He’s not worth it. Just keep your head up, you’ll be fine."

"Easy for you to say. You don’t have the Doctor breathing down your neck, looking for a reason to sack you. I swear, it’s like he’s got a camera on me, he always seems to just know if I’ve done something even the slightest bit wrong.”

This was true. Ever since the night they’d met, the Doctor had been finding reasons to keep an eye on Rose, finding fault in her for every mistake made in her section. He’d taken to walking the restaurant in between rushes, checking everything from the level of salt in the shakers, to the freshness of the citrus in Jack’s station, and any small infraction was blamed on Rose. 

"It’s like, I get keeping an eye on the new person, yeah? Or being a bit hard on them to make sure they’re getting everything down. But this is above and beyond. It’s like persecution. I haven’t done half the things he’s blaming me for. At this rate, there’s no chance of me getting promoted, and if he keeps it up I’ll be out of a job in a week."

Jack finished counting and turned to face her. “I don’t think he’s really trying to put you out of a job. He’s just a perfectionist. And I think he’s sweet on you, just a little.”

Rose spat out her drink, reaching for the washrag to wipe it up. “Sweet on me? He hates me!”

"A man doesn’t find that many excuses to talk to someone like that if it’s not personal. All you did was supposedly break a couple of glasses. For a guy like him, that’s nothing. As to your earlier point, there actually are cameras in here. And he does use them to keep an eye on people, so it’s not just you. He’s a bit of a control freak. Though, with the amount of money he and Donna sunk into this place to get it off the ground, I can hardly blame him. Anyway, just wait it out. He’ll get over it and move on to someone else to torture."

"Yeah, I suppose you’re right. I’m whining a bit much, aren’t I?"

"Just a bit." Jack agreed, with a grin.

"Maybe he’s not that bad." she said, finishing her drink at last. 

Unfortunately, the Doctor chose this time to exit the kitchen. “Tyler!” he barked across the room. “Drinking on the job?”

Rose jumped, scrambling off the bar stool to face him. “No, chef! It was just a..”

"I don’t want to hear it. Get out of here. And report to Donna’s office first thing in the morning."

Rose stammered, trying to respond, but he just pointed to the door, shaking his head. She turned pleading eyes on Jack, asking him wordlessly to stand up for her. He nodded and gestured that she should go. She gathered her bag and walked out the door, not sparing a glance at the Doctor on her way out.

The Doctor watched her leave, then turned back to face the bar. “Jack, you should know better.” he said quietly.

"Doctor, it’s after hours first of all. She’s been off the clock for a half hour. Second of all, that was a ginger-ale." the Doctor looked as if he were going to interrupt, but Jack continued "Which she paid for, so don’t give me that."

The Doctor deflated just a bit at this. “Right. Well, still, she was distracting you. And you aren’t off the clock yet. So I’m gonna have to report her to Donna.”

"She was distracting me how, exactly? It’s kind of my job to serve drinks to customers and make small talk with them, listen to them complain about the wankers they work with." he added, smirking at the Doctor.

"She called me that?" the Doctor demanded, voice rising almost an octave.

Jack laughed. “No, I did. You wanker. Though she did have some choice words to say about Adam Mitchell.”

"Who’s that, then? Her boyfriend?" the Doctor asked, trying (and failing) to sound disinterested.

"Adam Mitchell? Busser? Idiot in the extreme? Oh come on, you’re telling me you’ve noticed every time Rose drops so much as a napkin, and you don’t know the tosser walking around with his hand in a comically oversized bandage?"

The Doctor looked thoughtful for a moment. “Dark hair? Always working the waitresses for their phone numbers?”

Jack nodded. “He’s the one you should be mad at, not that Rose would ever say anything. But I’m not morally superior like her, so I will. He’s the one that dropped those glasses the other night. She was only there because she was trying to help him, and sent him off to get his hand looked at.”

"Why didn’t she say so?" the Doctor said, frowning. "She let me just rant and rave at her, and she didn’t even do it. Who does that?"

"She was trying to keep Adam from getting sacked. And also, she’s kind of afraid of you."

"Afraid of me? Why?" the Doctor asked, incredulously. "What’d I ever do to her?"

"Besides yelling at her over a broken glass and threatening to fire her?"

"Apart from that, yeah."

"Doctor, everyone’s afraid of you. How is this news to you?"

"That’s ridiculous. No one’s afraid of…"

Just then, Lynda, the last dishwasher on duty, opened the kitchen doors. She took one look at the Doctor, who had turned to glare at the interrupter, and squeaked, rushing back through the doors. Presumably to wait him out.

"Right." the Doctor muttered, uncomfortably. "Well, I’ll consider not talking to Donna about it, then. Just this once, mind you."

"You do that." Jack said, grinning. But his grin soon faded. "I’m short again, by the way." he said, grabbing the stack of money and debit card receipts he’d been poring over. 

The Doctor scowled. “That’s the third time in the last two weeks. What are you playing at?”

Jack sighed. “Right, like I’d be so quick to tell you the money was missing, if I was stealing.” he said, rolling his eyes. “But I think someone might be. We should check the camera feed.”

"Yeah, all right." the Doctor agreed. He then frowned, remembering Lynda. "Oi! You! In the kitchen!" he shouted.

Lynda’s head poked out, just enough to see. “Yes, chef?” she asked, quietly.

"Get out of here. I’m not going to bite." he said, though he sounded as though he might.

"Yes, chef." she responded, dashing through the restaurant as quickly as her legs would carry her.

The Doctor watched her go, looking exasperated. “Why does she look like she thinks I’m going to scream at her?”

"Because you did. Twice. Today alone."

 

"Did I? Ohh, I don’t remember that."

"She usually wears a hat back there."

"And now I do. Right, well, let’s go into my office and have a look at the cameras, yeah? When were you away from the bar at all, today?"

"Just on my break, and it had to have been after that because I counted out before Mickey stepped in, and he counted out when I got back and it was even."

The Doctor frowned, watching the screen closely as he fast forwarded through Jack’s shift. “Blimey, you flirt a lot.” he muttered.

"How can you even tell? It’s in fast forward." Jack asked, bemusedly.

"I just can, now hush. I think I’ve figured it out, yes. There." he said, pausing the feed and rewinding it slightly. "Where were you going just then?"

Jack leaned in, squinting at the screen. “Just to the kitchen to check on an order for her.” he said, pointing at the woman sitting alone at the bar. “She’d been there for almost an hour, we were starting to think you’d forgotten about her.”

"And how long did that take?" the Doctor asked, frowning again.

"I dunno, you tell me. You were the one who bit my head off when I asked."

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck, “Right, so about three or four minutes. So then why…” he paused, restarting the feed, “are you suddenly right back at the bar, like you never left?”

"What? That doesn’t make any sense, unless…someone messed with the feed." he finished, his eyebrows knitting together. "But who else has access to the cameras?"

"Just me and Donna. But someone could have gotten into one of our offices. Mind you, I don’t take any of the idiots working here to be smart enough to pull that off, but you really never know, I suppose."

Jack gave him pitying look. “And you wonder why they all hate you.”

"What? You said they were afraid of me, not that they hated me!"

"Six of one, half dozen of the other. Anyway, what do we do now?" Jack asked, quickly trying to change the topic.

"Welll, I suppose we’re going to have to start keeping a stricter eye out. Let Mickey know not to leave your register unattended. We’ll have to bring up one of the bussers as a hostess and cashier, too. I don’t want that register left unattended either."

"Might I suggest Rose?" Jack said, hopefully. "I mean, you don’t want that tosser Adam doing it and Rose has experience."

"Yeah, all right then. But I’ll have to keep an eye on her."

"As opposed to what you’ve been doing, which you would call…what, exactly?"

"Guiding. Shaping her, really. Mentoring."

"Right. Well, most would call it over the top. Knock it off, or she’ll quit and you won’t get to stare at her bum anymore."

"What!?" the Doctor spluttered, "I don’t, I mean I haven’t…that’s completely unfair, and most importantly, inappropriate. As if I would…" he couldn’t seem to bring himself to finish his sentence, so Jack decided to push it a bit.

"Right. Then you wouldn’t mind if I asked her out, then?"

The Doctor glared at him, but quickly schooled his features. “Why would I care?”

"Didn’t think you did."

"So why’d you ask?"

"Just stating my intentions. For no good reason. I mean, if you wanted to maybe beat me to the punch…that would be unfortunate, but totally understandable."

The Doctor sighed, running his hand through his hair. “Jack, I’ve got more important things to worry about than your love life. Speaking of, I need to call Donna. She’ll need to know why Rose is going to be in her office in the morning looking like a kicked puppy, might as well let Donna tell her about the promotion instead.”


	3. Chapter 3

Rose had taken Jack up on his offer of a night out. They had established that it wasn’t really a date, but Jack had told her to dress for a date anyway because he wanted to take her someplace nice. It was her night off and she was looking forward to getting out of the restaurant for a night. She had spent two hours getting ready, and had just put the finishing touches on her makeup when there was a knock at the door, indicating Jack had arrived. 

She was thankful her mum had left for her own date an hour before, so she didn’t have to answer questions about who was taking her out. She ran to the door, shoes in hand, and found Jack dressed in a nice suit. “Wow, Jack. You clean up well!” 

"You’re one to talk! You look gorgeous!" he handed her some flowers with one hand, and took her other hand to place a kiss on it. "Just a formality." he said, grinning at her look of concern. "This dinner is strictly friendship, I promise. Though we are definitely going to be having fun. Come on!"

He ushered her down to his car. She was looking forward to finding out where they were going, hoping she was dressed right. She was therefore confused when he pulled into the parking garage they used for work. “Jack, what are we doing here? Forget to pick up your check?” she asked, confused.

"Nope. I think it’s time you experienced this place the way it was meant to be seen. As a guest. I happen to know the owners, you see, and got us a seat at one of the VIP tables. Come on!" he said, getting out and opening her door for her.

"I dunno, are we even allowed to do that?" she asked, nervously. 

"Well, I think it shows faith in our employers, choosing to patron them on our own time. Besides, how long has the Doctor been giving you hell in there? I figured it might be nice to dish a little right back at him, don’t you think?" he asked with a roguish grin.

Rose couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, but we are going to get it though!”

"What can he do to us? We’re not on duty. He has to pander to us! It’s perfect!"

"You’re crazy! But I want to pay my way, yeah? Since it’s not a date, and I just got that promotion and all, thanks to you!"

"Rose," Jack said, looking at her seriously, "Do you have any idea how much anything here costs? One dinner will cost about what you make in a week. I’m all for your independence, but I set this up knowing the cost, so it’s my treat. We’ll call it a celebration to your success. You can take me out another time to even it out, okay?"

"All right. But I’m not getting anything fancy. I don’t want to bankrupt you, if it’s that expensive." she said, giving him one of her trademark grins.

"First of all, I make an obscene amount of money for a bartender, so I’ll be fine. Second, you are absolutely getting the fanciest thing on the menu. In fact, the more difficult it is to cook, the better. We’re going to make the Doctor earn his money tonight!" he cried as they rounded the corner and entered the restaurant. 

They were seated by one of Rose’s fellow hostesses, Amy, who did a double-take when she saw them and laughed. “Only you two would choose to come in here on your night off. Honestly. Come on, then.”

Once they were seated, they took a certain amount of evil glee in scouring the menu for what would give the kitchen the hardest time. Knowing that the Doctor, himself, would be responsible for their dishes, since they were at the VIP table.

"Jack, one question though, how do we know he’s going to mess anything up? I mean, he’s one of the best chefs there is, he’ll probably get it all perfect, even if we order the most difficult things on the menu."

"Oh, well, I might have bribed one of the chefs to mess with his station. Just a tiny bit."

"Right, but won’t he catch on before he sends it out?"

"Not if he’s so arrogant he thinks he can’t possibly make a mistake that basic." he said, with a smirk. 

"Of course." she confirmed, grinning. "Oh, this is so going to get us in trouble!"

"Nah, it’ll be good for him." he said, flipping over to the wine list as Martha came over to take their order.

***

In the kitchen, the Doctor was having a difficult night all on his own. Two of his chefs had called in sick - food poisoning, of all things! And the rest of the team was not working well to make up for their absence. He knew, logically, that he should not be taking it out on them. It wasn’t their fault the other two were out, and he’d been trying a bit harder to be mindful of his actions since his talk with Jack a few nights ago. But he was finding it difficult to be pleasant when he was continuously having to shout two or three times for the same ticket, only to have it come to him over-cooked, or worse - raw in the middle. He’d already sent one chef, Clara, home for ruining the chocolate souffle for the third time on the same order.

The kitchen was a disaster, and they were behind by several orders when the ticket came in on the VIP table. He hadn’t been informed there would even be a VIP table tonight, which meant he’d have to set one of the idiots in charge of overseeing the other tickets while he personally cooked for this one. 

Looking over the ticket, he realized he was going to need to get to work quickly to get their appetizers out to them. He set up in his station and got the appetizers out in no time at all and prepared to get going on the entrees. They couldn’t have picked a more obnoxious pairing of entrees. A porterhouse steak medium rare was difficult to perfect even for him, and the beef wellington was just a pain, in general. 

He had just gotten the wellington in the oven when he saw Martha entering the kitchen carrying a tray He watched her curiously, because she had been the one to pick up the order for the VIP table. As she approached, he got a sinking feeling. Not tonight, oh please, not tonight. Not after all this. he thought. He’d rarely ever had a dish returned, and not once had it happened while he’d been here. 

Martha approached him hesitantly. “Sorry, chef, but they said the scallops are overcooked, and the rice in the risotto is crunchy”

"Crunchy? That’s absurd. I’ve been cooking risotto longer than you’ve been alive!" he shouted, then sucked in a deep breath. "Sorry, not your fault. Right, let me see that." He reached out and stuck his finger right into the risotto and scooped out a bit to taste "What? That’s ridiculous. Give me one of the scallops." he demanded, as she held the plate out for him to grab one. Blimey, they’re right he thought, disgustedly. He turned to the rest of the kitchen. “I need one of you to fire off one mushroom risotto and one order of scallops right now.” he ordered, hoping none of them had heard his prior conversation with Martha. That was the last thing he needed.

He checked the re-fired appetizers and they were fine, so he sent them back out with Martha and continued working on the entrees. Thankfully, Martha didn’t return until the entrees were ready, and she carried the desert order with her. 

"Chocolate souffles? They both want chocolate souffles? Well, of course they do. Brilliant.” he muttered, rolling his eyes. 

He was just getting ready to fire off the souffles when he saw Martha re-entering the kitchen, again carrying the tray of food he’d just sent her out with. “No, no, no, no, NO!” he whined. “Not again!”

"Sorry, chef, but they said the wellington is overcooked and the porterhouse is raw."

"Raw? I’ve never served raw food in my life! We’ll see about this." But, as he cut into the steak, he found that it was, indeed, well undercooked. And he could see without further effort that the wellington was overcooked. "I don’t believe this is happening right now." he shouted, kicking over a nearby trash bin. "Jones!" he called out across the kitchen, noticing several of the chefs snickering behind their raised arms, averting their eyes. 

"Yes, chef?" Ianto Jones, his second in command, quickly crossed over to him.

"Help me re-fire this order, and check the temperature on the burners. Something’s not right here."

Ianto, being in on the joke, and being the one who had tampered with the burners, quickly set them right again before adjusting the temperature on the oven the Doctor was about to put the souffles into. ”Nothing wrong, chef. They’re reading out just fine.”

"Right, well let’s try this again, shall we?" he asked, with fake enthusiasm, as they got to work. 

By the time the entrees were done, again, the oven had cooled to the lower temperature, unbeknownst to the Doctor. He’d sent the entrees back out with Martha, and they had not come back, for which he was very grateful. He could hear the muttering and joking of the other chefs and was getting down to his last nerve.

"Don’t you lot have work to do? Jones, how are you looking on that side?"

"Everything’s running smoothly, chef. We’re all caught up, and no issues." he tried to reign in his tone of smugness, but the Doctor could sense it was there.

"Right then, well. Keep it up." he growled, turning back to the oven to check on the souffle. Unfortunately, it wasn’t rising. At all. And it had been in there too long, if it was going to rise, it would have by now. "Come on, come on." he whined, turning to put in another batch and set to waiting.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t until he was tossing his third and final batch that he realized the oven was set too low. “You have GOT to be kidding me!” he growled, pulling at his hair, hygiene the last of his concerns. He wheeled around to start another batch when he saw Martha entering. “What?” he snapped.

"Sorry, chef, but they’re getting pretty impatient and I think they’re getting ready to leave. Do you want to go say something to them?" she asked, successfully hiding her amusement at the situation. 

"Yes. Let’s go meet these VIPs who had to ruin my already awful night, shall we?"


	4. Chapter 4

Rose and Jack were on their fourth glass of wine, and they couldn’t stop giggling. Martha had just come out to let them know the chef would be right out to apologize for the delay, grinning the whole time. 

"Oh, oh! Shh! Here he comes, quiet!" whispered Jack, seeing the Doctor coming around the corner towards their table.

"He doesn’t look happy, does he?" Rose asked quietly, starting to feel a little bit bad for him.

The Doctor was trying to mask his contempt as he approached the VIP table, but as he got closer, it got more difficult. He could see Jack, and the back of Jack’s date’s head. And more importantly, he could see Jack trying not to laugh. 

"Harkness, what’s this about? You think it’s funny coming in here to mess with me on your night off? You know I do have rather a lot to be getting on with, without your attempts at humor." he said, trying to reign in his temper. Jack was one of his oldest friends, but sometimes he just couldn’t stand him. And now was going to be one of those times.

"Oh, come now, Doctor. I didn’t do anything. I wasn’t even working tonight. All I did was bring my gorgeous date here to the nicest restaurant in town for dinner. Not very impressed, though, I don’t think." he glanced over at Rose, who was looking chagrined. 

The Doctor glanced over at Rose, then quickly did a double-take. He almost didn’t recognize her out of her uniform. She looked gorgeous. And he suddenly felt his face go red, humiliated that he’d had such a bad night in front of not only his kitchen staff, but now in front of her, too. 

"Right. Well, my apologies for the delay. There was a bit of a mishap with the temperature on the oven, but I should have souffles for you soon. And of course, it’ll be on the house." he stammered, looking anywhere but at them.

"No." Rose said quietly. "No, that’s all right. We don’t really need dessert, anyway. It’s fine. Go on back to what you need to be doing." 

"Are you sure?" Jack asked, glancing between them as they tried not to look at each other. 

"Yeah. It’s fine. Everything was delicious, Doctor." she said, giving him a timid smile. 

"Yeah?" he asked, in an oddly hopeful tone. And that was something he needed to think about. He was one of the best chefs in the country, he knew his food was great. So why did one woman’s opinion matter so much to him? But it did. For whatever reason, it did.

"Yeah. Thank you." she replied, smiling genuinely at him. 

"Well, still, sorry for the problems. Food’s on the house. But you can pay for the wine, Harkness." he said, turning back to Jack and glaring. "For whatever you did, or had done to my station. Don’t think I didn’t notice Ianto hovering a little too long when he checked out the temperatures. You’ll be lucky to both have jobs tomorrow." With that he turned on his heel and strode back into the kitchen. 

"Did he mean us? Or…?" Rose asked, watching him go.

"Oh, I’m sure he meant me and Ianto. Don’t worry though. I’m like a brother to him, he’ll never fire me. And I’ll take the blame for Ianto. No one will get in trouble, Rose. Don’t worry."

"Yeah, still though. Think I’ll stick around and talk to him, yeah? Just to apologize."

"Right, just to apologize." he winked at her.

"Shut it, you!"

"Sorry, sorry. But are you going to be able to get home okay? I can wait, it’s no problem. It’s almost closing time."

"No, s’fine. I’ve got money to call for a ride. But thanks, though. For taking me out. It was a lot of fun, even if I feel guilty for laughing, now." she said, giving him a half hug as he helped her out of her chair. 

"Nothing to feel guilty for." he said, handing a stack of bills to Martha as she passed with the bill. "I did the dirty work. Keep the change, Martha! You were brilliant!" he called after her. She turned back and blew him a kiss.

"Yeah, but I didn’t have to enjoy his misery so much." she said, giggling.

"True. Well, all right then. Thanks for a fun night, Rose. You call me if you change your mind about that ride."

"Sure. And you be careful, yeah? We had a bit of wine, maybe you shouldn’t be driving?"

"Oh, I’m gonna walk. Ianto’s just about off, and I think I’m going to take him out for a coffee to make up for the trouble I caused him. ‘Night, Rose!" he gave her a short salute, then went off towards the kitchen while Rose wandered over to the bar to wait out the Doctor.


	5. Chapter 5

Rose ended up waiting longer than she’d initially expected. She passed the time with Mickey, Jack’s stand-in, chatting about the classes he was taking, and his plans to ask Martha out. So caught up were they, that she nearly missed the Doctor exiting the kitchen, spotting her at the bar and quickly turning back around. 

"Doctor, wait!" she called out, turning quickly back to Mickey. "I say go for it, mate. The worst she can say is no. See you tomorrow!"

The Doctor had paused near the door, feigning a put-upon expression as he waited for her to cross the room. “Come to gloat?” he asked bitterly, “Because I think the entire kitchen staff beat you to it, honestly.”

"Why would I wanna do that?" she asked, frowning.

"Oh, you saw the dinner service tonight. It was a trainwreck, start to finish. And that’s not even just what happened with your table. It was a shit night all around."

"None of that’s your fault, though."

He gave her a sardonic look. “How do you figure that?”

"Well, whatever Jack did, or didn’t do - I can neither confirm or deny it, but whatever happened with our table wasn’t your fault. And Martha said you were short staffed tonight. Bound to be a few mistakes, yeah?"

"I don’t make mistakes." he said stiffly.

"Yeah, well you’re not the only one cooking in there. You have to relax a bit or you’re gonna have a heart attack. You take everything so personally, and way too seriously." she said, grinning to try to lighten the impact of her words. 

"Yeah, so it’s all my fault, then? I had it coming?"

"When did I say that? God you’re difficult to talk to." 

"Yeah, well, what did you want to talk to me about? Aren’t you on a date with Harkness? Or did you dump him for Smith?" he snapped.

"Not that it’s any of your business, but I wasn’t on a date. We’re just friends. Same with Mickey. And I wanted to talk to you because I wanted to apologize for dinner. But I’m thinking maybe it was a stupid idea. I’ll just see you at work tomorrow." she said, turning to leave.

"Rose, wait. I’m sorry. I’ve had a rough night and I’ve been taking it out on everyone. Jack says I do that a lot, it’s something I’m trying to work on. Apparently," he lowered his voice to a whisper and leaned towards her, "people are afraid of me. They even think I’m mean, can you believe that?" he asked, leaning back and and looking outraged. "Me? Mean?"

"Nice bloke like you? Nah. They’re mistaken." she grinned conspiratorially. "Are you off, then?"

"Sort of, I’m working on a new dish in the kitchen. Do you want to come and try it?" he asked, hopefully.

"Yeah, I do." she replied, taking his arm when he offered and accompanying him back to the kitchen. 

"Right, well, you’re going to need one of these." he said, pulling out one of his spare chef’s jackets. "It’s not ready yet. You lot." he said, turning to the remainder of the kitchen staff, "Piss off. I’ll finish up."

Rose watched the other chefs scurry out of the kitchen as she put on the almost comically oversized jacket. It went down nearly to the bottom of her dress. “Haven’t you got any of these in a women’s size? I’m swimming in this.” she said, laughing as she gave a quick twirl. 

He looked up and smiled fondly at her. “Nah, that’s the only spare I’ve got. And it’s a good look on you.”

"You’re just saying that because it looks like I haven’t got anything underneath it." she joked, grinning back at him.

"Nah. Everybody looks better in a chef’s jacket. Right, well, I’ve got about five more minutes on this lamb, so why don’t you have a seat."

Rose quickly hopped up on the counter nearby, watching him work.

"Not on the counter, you plebian!" he shouted, but followed it with laughter. "Now I’ve got to wash it again. As it is I’m going to have to scrub the place down by myself, I just sent everyone else home. What was I thinking?"

"Well, why don’t I get a jump on that while you’re cooking."

"Why would you want to do that? You’ll mess up your dress."

"Nah, I’ll mess up this giant jacket, that’s all. Besides, I know how much your food costs now, I’ve gotta do something to pay my way." she smirked, heading over to where the cleaning supplies were kept and beginning to wash everything down. "So what made you want to be a chef?" 

"I dunno, really. It’s one of those things that’s just kind of ingrained into you, before you can really remember why. But I think what I liked most about it was the creativity, the experimenting, for better or for worse. But that got stifled for the last decade or so, running other people’s restaurants. You cook other people’s recipes, get yelled at, spend the majority of your time filling out paperwork and ordering supplies, and it was enough to give me that push in the right direction. Got me to go in with Donna on this place. Do things the way I want them done, serve the food I want to serve, and keep being creative and trying new things. Like this, taste this." he said, pulling the pan off the burner and holding a spoon out for her.

She leaned over and tasted it, eyes rolling back. “Oh my god, that is amazing! What’s in that?”

He tutted at her. “That would be revealing my secrets, Miss Tyler, and a successful chef doesn’t reveal their secrets.”

She laughed. “Well, either way, that’s got to go on the menu, you’ll sell it out every night! Can I have some more?” she started, but he was already handing her a bowl. They leaned against the counters, enjoying the dish he had made in silence for a few minutes before Rose broke it. “So, can I ask you a question? And don’t get offended, promise?”

He smirked. “I can promise no such thing, but you can ask.”

"So you said what you hated about working at other people’s restaurants was cooking other people’s recipes, and gettin’ yelled at, and not having any creativity, yeah?" he nodded. "Well, I dunno, it just seems to me that you could be encouraging that in your other chefs here, too. Getting them to think outside of the box, and not giving them hell all the time. I think any one of them could be just like you, I mean there’s got to be a reason you hired them in the first place."

He looked at her contemplatively. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”

"And it’d be a shame if any of them walked out after gettin’ shouted at all night, and left to the competition. Yeah?"

His eyes narrowed. “Rose, you don’t understand, that’s just how this industry works. It’s high pressure and I’ve got to know who can handle it and who can’t. It’s a lot of money, MY money, on the line if this place fails.”

"No, you’re right. But what I mean is, those are the things you hated in other restaurants. The things that drove you away. And you said you wanted to make your restaurant different, that’s all I’m saying. Anyway, that’s just my opinion, yeah? And what do I know. Thanks for the lamb, Doctor. I’m gonna go call for a ride home."

He was lost in thought over what she said, and didn’t catch that she was leaving until she was already out the door. 

"Rose, wait up! I’ll give you a ride."


	6. Chapter 6

Ever since his night in the kitchen with Rose, the Doctor had seemed a little less angry, less likely to jump down anyone’s throat over the slightest mistake. In fact, the mood in the restaurant had improved drastically. No one knew why, but they were all glad of the change. The Doctor had stopped kicking people out of the kitchen for their mistakes, and had even encouraged some of the more experienced chefs to stick around after hours to work on new recipes for the menu with him. 

Jack seemed to be the only person who’d put two and two together. “I don’t know what you said to him, but I do know that we all owe you one.” he said with a grin. “Not one person has been reduced to tears in almost a week, it’s a new record.”

Rose laughed and finished counting out the change she needed from his drawer. ”Nah, I didn’t do anything. But it is nice, yeah? I think I might even get promoted to server soon, now that he’s stopped hounding me over everything.”

"Well, to be fair, there hasn’t been anything to hound you over. I haven’t seen the cashier station run so smoothly since we opened. If you do get promoted, it’ll be because you earned it."

"Thanks Jack! Well, I better get back to it, wouldn’t want the empire to fall, eh?" she grinned and waved as she turned to go back to her station, her break over.

She was halfway across the floor when she was jostled, roughly, by someone passing. “Oi, watch it! Oh, it’s you.” said Adam, glaring down at her in contempt. “So, how’s the new job treating you? Must be nice to get promoted over everyone just because you’re shagging the boss.”

"Excuse me?" she asked, completely taken aback.

"You heard me. You hadn’t even been here a month and they gave you the promotion over me. How’s that fair? Guess I could take up with Donna, see if it works as well for me."

"Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m not sleeping with anyone who works here. And the reason you didn’t get promoted is because you’re a prat. Everyone knows it was you that got me in trouble, and that you’re making up stories about your hand to get out of doing work. That’s why they don’t want you up there. You’re lucky to still have a job, mate. Don’t put it on me."

"Yeah, sure. Piss off." he said, turning to go back to his section.

Rose shook her head and continued on her way. She’d have to keep an eye on him if he was gunning for her job. 

Later that evening, Rose was leading two VIP customers to their seats when she spotted the Doctor leaning in the doorway that led to the kitchen. She got the guests settled, then turned back to go and greet him. “Keeping busy?” she asked, with a grin.

"Oh, definitely. Just…keeping an eye on the place. Making sure it’s all going smooth. You know, boss stuff." he said, returning her smile.

"Right. And how’s it looking?"

"Beautiful." he said fondly, gazing down at her. 

"You always this complimentary about your employees?" she asked, smirking. 

"Nah, seems to be a recent affliction. Dunno what’s come over me really." he replied, feigning disgust. 

"Right. Well, keep it up."

"Oh, I intend to. Things are actually running much smoother, who’d have thought? Well, you, I suppose." he conceded, smiling again.

"Yeah, I’m smart like that. Anyway, got to get back. Wouldn’t want to piss off the boss."

"No, we can’t have that. But, well, I was wondering if maybe you would want to…I dunno, wait around again tonight after your shift? I’ve got something I’ve been working on, specially for you."

"Oh yeah? Well, how could I turn that down? I’ll be there." she replied, smiling widely.

"Great!" he clapped his hands. "Now, back to work with you or I’ll have to write you up." he winked, before turning back to the kitchen.

***

After Rose’s shift ended, there was still a couple of hours to go until the Doctor would be able to meet her. She’d decided to go home to change out of her uniform, since she had time.

The Doctor had finished overseeing the last ticket of the night, a bit earlier than expected, and he came out to look for Rose at the bar, as they had planned. 

"She’s not here." said Jack, looking up from counting out his drawer. "She ran home to change, told me to let you know she’d be back in a bit. But, we’ve got some bad news."

"Not again!" the Doctor replied, tugging at his hair. 

"Afraid so. And it’s not another small one. There’s three hundred missing this time."

"I thought we were being more careful? How does this keep happening?"

"I don’t know. But we need to go check the recording."

"Yeah. Yeah we do, come on."

The Doctor led Jack back to his office. They sat down at his computer and started rewinding the footage from the day. They both gasped when they saw the person responsible appear, glancing back and forth quickly, before sticking the money in their apron. It was the last person either of them would have ever expected.

***

Rose had taken just a bit longer than she had planned. Her mum had thought she was in for the night and wanted to tell her about her day. Rose didn’t have the heart to stop her, so she listened patiently, then lied and said she’d left her phone back at work so she could get out without too many questions.

As she walked back into the restaurant, she could see that it was nearly empty, the lights all turned down low except for the ones over the bar. Seated there, apparently waiting for her, were the Doctor, Jack and Donna with a laptop open next to them on the counter.

"What’s goin’ on?" she asked, nervously.

"Rose, we need to talk." Donna said somberly.


	7. Chapter 7

Rose had watched the footage on the laptop, panic growing in her stomach. She couldn’t believe what she was being accused of.

"That’s me, but that’s not what happened at all. Jack, you know I’m in and out of there all the time, getting change. But you’re always right there!"

"I hate to say it, Rose, but the footage speaks for itself. Why did you put the money in your apron?" Donna asked, eyes narrowed.

"I always do! I don’t want to walk across the floor with a wad of notes in my hand. But it goes right into the other register. Go check the other camera!"

"We already did." the Doctor said, coldly "There’s no footage of you putting the money into the registers, yours or his, any of the times you’ve gone to Jack’s station. And what’s more is that your register was also short the same amount of money today. Or didn’t you count it down before you switched it over to Amy?"

Rose’s cheeks reddened. She’d been so excited to leave and get ready to meet with him that she’d asked Amy to close it out for her at the end of the night. She knew better. She knew it was procedure to balance it before she handed it off. But she hadn’t had any issues with it being short before, she and Amy had been very thorough since she had been promoted. She didn’t think there would be any problem. 

"I…no. I didn’t. I was in a hurry, and Amy said she’d count it out for me after I left." she said, head down.

"I see. Well, Rose, this doesn’t look good." said Donna, rubbing her temples. "You do see that, right?"

"I do. But I promise you, I haven’t taken any money! Doctor, you know me, you know I wouldn’t do this!" she pleaded, turning to face him. 

He refused to look at her. “Donna, you deal with this. I need to go clean up in the kitchen.” He turned away, storming off towards the kitchen.

"Jack, come on, you were there! You saw me put the money in the drawer before making change!"

Jack looked thoughtful. “She’s right, Donna. Not that I was paying particularly close attention, but I did see her put money in the drawer, not just take it out. And I stand by my opinion from earlier. I don’t think she did it. Remember last week? The footage that was spliced, making it look like I’d never left the bar all night? Whoever did that could have done the same with this footage, and the feed on her section. I feel like this is a set up.”

Donna sighed. “I don’t know what to think. But honestly, Rose, I don’t have much of a choice. Until we figure this out, I’ve got to suspend you. Without pay.” 

Rose’s eyes filled with tears. “But I didn’t do it…” she said, softly.

"And I want to believe you, I really do. You’ve been wonderful so far. But I have to do something. Look, take a week. We’ll keep an eye out here, and if money goes missing again we’ll know it’s not you and you can come back, okay? If not…well, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there."

"Yeah, all right." she said quietly, wiping tears from her eyes. 

"Okay. We’ll be in touch." said Donna, looking uncomfortable as she got up to leave. 

Jack came around the bar to give her a hug. “I’m sorry, Rose. I believe you, and I think they do too, deep down.”

"He didn’t look like he believed me." she said sadly. "He looked like he hated me again."

"He’s a complex man. Well, no, he isn’t. He’s a temperamental man who makes rash judgments. And he’s wrong. He’ll figure that out and he’ll apologize. Come on, I’ll walk you to your car." 

***

Rose spent the next two days feeling absolutely miserable. She didn’t want to upset her mum, so she lied and said they were redecorating the restaurant, that’s why she was home from work. She knew if she told her the truth, she’d be likely to storm down there and give them a piece of her mind about calling her daughter a thief. As it was, she was indignant that Rose had to go without pay while they “redecorated.”

"Seems like they should be compensating you for your time. I mean, you’d be in there to work if they weren’t doin’ it, you should be getting something."

"No, Mum. This is normal. It’s okay, really. Gives me some time to rest and spend with you, right? That’s good news." she forced herself to smile, not wanting her mum to know how hurt she was. She’d tell her once it had been resolved, one way or the other. And if she did lose her job, she probably wouldn’t care if her mum chewed them out. 

She was on her third day off when she found something odd. She had spent the day on the computer, mostly glancing through want-ads for jobs. Though how she’d explain losing this job and expect to find another, she wasn’t sure. She had taken a break to look at her Facebook account and had found something that jumped out at her.

"You’ve got to be joking me…" she murmured, just before the phone rang.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hello, can I speak to Rose?"

"This is Rose."

"It’s Donna. I wanted to let you know you’re off the hook. And I’m sorry I didn’t believe you. More money went missing and you’ll never believe who was on the tape."

"Oh, I bet you I would, but tell me anyway."

"It was you. Again. Same footage as last time. Well, from the same day at least. Whoever’s doing this clearly didn’t know you were going to be out and tried to set you up again."

"Yeah, about that. I think I’ve got an idea about who’s behind all this. Can I come by and show you something?"


	8. Chapter 8

Rose was seated in Donna’s office with Donna and Jack. The Doctor, however, was nowhere to be found. Despite being wrong about Rose being the thief, it seemed he still didn’t want to face her.

"So what did you want to show us, Rose?" Donna asked.

Rose pulled out her laptop and brought up her Facebook account, then Adam’s page. “The idiot forgot he had sent me a friend request when I first started here. And look at this.”

She began playing a video that was posted there, a video Adam had made for his friend’s band. “He’s in film school. He edited this, as well as about a dozen other videos on this feed. Now, I’m assuming he hasn’t told anyone that. Because if you’re looking for a thief who can edit camera feed footage, that would point the finger directly at him. Don’t you think?”

Donna nodded. “I think you’re probably right. Though I can’t fire him on this alone. We need to catch him in the act. We checked all the recordings on the hallway to our offices and he wasn’t on there. So either he’s covered his tracks on those as well, or he’s accessing it remotely.”

"My money’s on the latter," Jack said, running his hand through his hair. "I overheard him chatting up Amy the other night, apparently he’s a computer genius, or likes to think he is."

"Hmm, do you think Amy would be willing to help us out? If he’s trying to pull her, he might slip up, trying to impress her," suggested Rose. 

Donna frowned, “Isn’t she engaged?” 

"Yeah, but he doesn’t seem to know that. Or doesn’t care. Might be worth a shot." Jack offered.

***

"Just so we’re clear, I’m doing this under duress. Wouldn’t be doing it at all if Jack hadn’t tipped me and Martha a hundred dollars each that night you were both here." Amy muttered angrily as she finished changing out of her uniform in the restroom the following evening.

"Well it’s a good thing Jack’s so generous, then. Come on, Amy. Don’t you want him out of here? Then I can come back and you won’t have to share a station with him," Rose cajoled.

"Yeah. You’re lucky I like you, Tyler. Now where is the idiot?" 

"He’s in the section near the bar. So just go wait there and he’ll be sure to be over to bother you in no time."

"All right, but if he puts one finger on me…" 

"Then Jack will be there to stop him. Not that you need the back up, but we thought Jack would be less likely to break his arm or get arrested for assault."

"True," Amy agreed. "Am I getting paid for this?" she asked as they left the bathroom.

"Yeah, Donna said she’d pay you double-time."

"Oh! Why didn’t you say so? Let’s do this! And keep an eye out for Rory, will you? I didn’t get a chance to tell him what’s going on, and I don’t want him getting the wrong idea. I’ll tell him later."

"Sure. Okay, remember that the camera’s going to be on you and Jack’s got a microphone set up in the stack of coasters, so you just need to make sure you’re sitting in front of it."

"Rose, you do know that modeling is my day-job, right? I know how to follow directions and you’ve already explained it to me twice. Let me work." she finished, turning swiftly to walk towards the bar, her hair flourishing behind her. 

"A model?" Rose asked to herself, "Figures." She turned back to head to Donna’s office, where they’d all agreed to wait. As she approached Donna’s office, the Doctor was exiting his own office. He stopped abruptly when he saw her, rubbing his neck in apprehension. "Hi." said Rose.

"Hi," he replied, tersely.

"Did Donna tell you…"

"Yeah. I’ve got to work in the kitchen, but she’ll let me know how it goes. And I’m running late, so…" he trailed off, not looking at her as he turned and walked away from her, towards the kitchen.

Rose sighed. If he wasn’t going to apologize, or at least acknowledge that he was wrong, then she wasn’t going to go out of her way to try to talk to him. She turned to enter Donna’s office. “How’s it looking?”

Donna barely looked up from the computer. “Oh, he took the bait all right. He’s practically drooling on her. Good call on the mini-skirt.”

"Amy’s idea. Has he said anything?"

"Not yet, but he’s just told her he’s off for the night and ordered a drink. Jack made it a double, bless him. Maybe he’ll incriminate himself after a drink or two."

"Here’s hoping," muttered Rose, "Where’s the other feeds? I need to keep an eye out for Rory."

"Rory’s in the kitchen, John’s got him working on the new menu so I don’t think we’ll see him any time soon. Now hush up! I think it’s getting interesting."

Rose sat on Donna’s desk as she turned up the volume on the computer. Jack had conveniently stepped away, and Amy was “confiding” in Adam how much she supposedly hated working there and felt that she was being underpaid. She even hinted that she needed money desperately for student loans and implied that whoever the thief was, they had the right idea.

Adam’s face lit up, seeing an opportunity to score points with her, he let his hand show. “Oh, well you know, if you really need money you can just take some from the register and I can cover you. No one has to know about it, they already seem to think it was Rose - I could make sure they keep thinking that.”

"Don’t be ridiculous, there’s cameras. I’d never get away with it." Amy said.

"I can deal with the cameras. It’s kind of my specialty." he smirked.

"You’re telling me you’re the one who’s been stealing?" she whispered, leaning into him conspiratorially. "Oh my god, but that’s brilliant! How have you been keeping them from finding you out?"

"Easy. Those idiots wouldn’t know their computers were hacked if I’d left a giant calling card behind me. I can change the footage, make it look like Tyler did it again. Go on, Harkness is off flirting with his boyfriend in the kitchen, no one’s looking and you have the code. I’ll keep watch."

Back in Donna’s office, she and Rose watched the scene play out. “Do you think she’ll play into it or cut it off there?” Rose pondered.

"Oh, she better keep going. I don’t just want a confession, I want to catch him in the act. Come on, Pond," she urged at Amy’s face on the screen.

Amy made a show of looking around, then shrugged, hopped the bar and opened Jack’s register, taking out a large amount of money, then sliding back across the bar. “All right, but if I go down for this, I know your secrets so you better follow through and fix that tape.”

"If I do, will you go out with me?" he asked, trying to look suave, but not pulling it off.

"Sure." she replied, nonchalantly. "But we should go, yeah? Go do your magic." She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Rose shuddered just watching it. “She’s a braver woman than me,” she muttered, then turned to Donna. “Now what?”

"Now we wait. He’ll try to access the network and he’ll find a nasty surprise waiting for him when he does. He may think he’s the only computer literate person working here, but he’s wrong. John’s not just a genius in the kitchen, he’s a genius. Period."

"A genius? Talking about me, by any chance?" asked Amy, who had just entered the office, holding out the stack of money she’d taken from the register. 

"Well, yeah. You too. Well done," said Donna.

"Blimey, how much did you take?" asked Rose.

Amy shrugged. “Enough for it to be convincing.”

"Well, again. Nicely done. Give that here." Donna said, snatching the money from Amy’s hand, then peeling a few bills off and handing them back to her. "For your trouble. And for you, Rose. To cover the last couple of days," she said, handing some of the rest to Rose.

Rose was about to thank her, but just then Donna’s phone rang. 

"Yes? All right, then. Yeah, I will. Okay, bye." Donna hung up, then quickly turned back to the computer. "The next part of the show is starting." she muttered to the other two. Amy and Rose leaned in behind her to watch the screen.

At first the feed was of an office similar to Donna’s, Rose assumed it must be the Doctor’s. But then the screen changed it was a laptop camera facing out on Adam as he typed. He was muttering indecipherably to himself as he worked. He seemed to be in the coffee shop across the street from the restaurant. 

Suddenly sirens could be heard approaching, through the computer and through the restaurant. The doors behind Adam burst open and they watched as he was handcuffed and led away by the police, until one of the officers shut down the laptop and the feed was severed. 

Rose and Amy had leaned against each other, supporting each other as they laughed. “Did you see his face?” cackled Amy.

"Serves him right." said Donna, wiping tears of laughter from her eye. 

"How did that work, then?" Rose asked, after a minute or two had passed. 

"Oh, I could tell you, but I think the Doctor would prefer to do it himself. Go on over to the kitchen, he’s got a surprise for you."

***

As Rose approached the kitchen, she saw a few of the other chefs leaving, laughing as they passed, including Rory and Ianto. They grinned conspiratorially at each other, breaking into laughter as they passed by. When she entered the kitchen, she thought she could see why.

A table from the dining room had been moved to the the head of the kitchen, set immaculately for two, just as it was for their VIP tables in the dining room. There was a nametag with her name on it at the chair closest to her. She approached it, looking around the kitchen for some clue about what was going on.

"Sit down, please," the Doctor’s voice echoed from across the kitchen, as the lights went out and the room was lit only by the candles on the table and set out along the front row of the counters, illuminating the rows of covered dishes laid out there.

"It occurs to me, Rose Tyler, that I am an idiot. Welll, I’m a genius, but I can be an idiot about a small number of subjects. And one of those subjects seems to be you. I never should have thought you were the thief. I already knew whoever it was had been tampering with the video feed, I really should have put it together faster than I did. And so, I wanted to apologize and make it up to you. And I’ll do so in two parts. The first part you already witnessed, in Donna’s office."

"That was you?" Rose interrupted. "How’d you manage that?"

"Well, let’s just say once you made it glaringly obvious how much of an idiot I’d been, and pointed us in the right direction, I set a little trap for our friend Adam. I had the footage from the bar streaming to the police, and as soon as he accessed the internal network, it took over his computer, streaming all of his actions, including his camera’s feed, directly to the police. And to us, of course. Though, that was just for fun. Don’t tell the police that part when they question you." he added with a grin.

"Right, and the second part?"

"Well, we had a bit of a date planned the other night, before I went and ruined it all."

"By calling me a thief." Rose clarified.

"Yes…" he admitted, reluctantly.

"And not believing that there was anyway I could have been set up."

"Yeah…" he replied, pulling at his hair.

"Just wanted to make sure we’re clear on how much groveling is in your future."

"Right! Well, groveling, yes! I’ve got it all planned out! You, Rose Tyler, were the inspiration behind the new menu. It’s a collaboration with all my senior chefs, which was your idea, after all. So I thought it was only fair that you got to be the first one to taste it." he finished, smiling hopefully.

"Hmm, your terms are agreeable. On one condition. I want a promotion to server." she said, crossing her arms.

"Wellll, I don’t really handle that side of things. But, considering you helped us catch the person responsible for all the theft…"

"After being accused of being said person." she inserted quickly.

"Right. I think I can put in a good word for you with Donna. Consider it done, on one condition."

"Oh, now you have conditions, too?" she asked, grinning.

"Yeah. You let me cook for you twice a week from now on. To assuage my guilt, I mean."

"Right. For the guilt." she laughed. "All right then, it’s a deal."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." she replied, softly.

"Rose Tyler, I think this is the start of a beautiful menu!"

the end


End file.
